Think Fast
by soaring-smiles
Summary: Post-Doomsday, Rose Tyler finds what she's been looking for on a Void-jumping break in a bookshop. Oh, and the Doctor too.


**Written for the lovely kelkat9 on livejournal at the doctor_rose_fix Autumn Ficathon. A fluffy, sweet reunion with a dash of Harry Potter on top.**

**Prompt: _Ten/Rose reunion pre JE - he finds Rose taking a post Void jumping break in a bookshop looking up The Deathly Hallows since there's no HP in Pete's World. There will be snogging._**

**__****Feeback is, as always, much appreciated.**

* * *

She never used to like books.

Too boring, she used to think. No substitute for the real world. That was _before_, though.

When he smelled of leather and cloves, he used to read poetry and classics, allowing her a split second glance into the man beneath the armour. Tennyson, Oscar Wilde, occasionally Shakespeare if he felt like it. And authors from worlds a trillion light years away, speaking of things she could only imagine. The prose suited his rich voice, and Rose was of the view that she'd fallen heavily in love the moment he started reading.

Both with words and with him.

Then he changed in a shower of gold, and read everything from War and Peace to Grey's Anatomy to Spot's Fun Day at the Beach. He revelled in fantasy, science fiction. And in the end, his stories and tone captivated her just as strongly.

Now she was foaming at the mouth for the final Harry Potter book, and she'd had to physically restrain herself from looking up the spoilers on the Internet.

It wasn't _fair_. They had been just about to start it, him and her. They would have snuggled up in the couch, her curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder, breathing in his strange, heady scent. She used to make tea, and sling his jacket over the sofa in the library, and occasionally pay more attention to the low timbre of his voice than the actual words.

Then she fell. Screaming, actually. The moment after she'd finished her little fit of grief and moping for the Republic of England, she'd gone marching up to the nearest bookshop.

But in Pete's World, J.K Rowling was a self help author. At first it was another painful reminder, but then it got _annoying_. She wanted to know what happened, to finish off the series and take the final steps with the characters that had enchanted her. Instead the best she got was 'How to Raise Difficult Pets.' She'd been shocked, and a little furious, and Mickey had nodded knowingly.

"Babes, wait 'till you see what Jane Austen wrote." (It turned out to be an account of the various and imaginative, extremely graphic sexual exploits of Miss Bennett and her submissive manservant, Mr Darcy)

But after a struggle, bucketloads of tears, some blood and lots of sweat, she had made it back. And she hated to admit it, but apart from the obvious reasons, she'd been ecstatic to get back to a place where Harry existed.

So here she was, in the middle of a sprawling bookstore in the right universe, perched precariously on a step ladder, fingers within an inch of the prize she'd been lusting after for the last two years. It was probably extremely irresponsible, taking time off from the relentless search for the Doctor. This wasn't just her, something was going to happen, she could feel it.

However, if the world was going to end, she was damn well going to finish the Deathly Hallows before she went.

A beep alerted her to the fact that her Dimension Cannon was up and running. Making a face, she leaned over that last bit...

And slipped, leg crumpling beneath her. She flailed wildly, unsuccessfully trying to keep her balance, and failing miserably, losing control over her limbs.

She had barely squealed when a pair of arms stopped her descent. The person '_oofed_', and staggered back, but managed to keep her upright. She was placed on the ground carefully. Rose opened her eyes, and turned around, spasm of fear vanishing.

"Th-" Rose began, then stopped.

Her mouth opened and shut soundlessly. The pinstriped man grinned.

"Hello," he said, happily holding up the book she'd lost her grip on. "This what you were looking for?"

Time passed like molasses, thick and slow. She tried to breathe properly, which didn't work. Just to make sure, she pinched herself.

Nope, he was still there in all his glory, hair messed like he'd just gotten out of bed. Her fingers twitched. It was just begging to be straightened, strands going everywhere, and she bet he spent absolute ages on it this morning, and he was even wearing her favourite tie, and his suit was slightly skew and- Rose got a hold of herself.

"Doctor?" she asked, still a tad numb with shock and just the tiniest bit of tentative joy flowering in her stomach.

He nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Yep! In the flesh, bigger than life, smack bang in the middle of things, genuine as apple pie, never got how-"

She collided with him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and listening to the dual beat that resided beneath the cotton. He was here, and so was she and everything was excellent, molto bene, brilliant and bloody _fantastic_.

He stayed stock still for a moment, then crushed her against him, one hand cupping her head, the other circling her waist, book dropping to the floor. She was surrounded by him, the lingering scent of mint and sugar, and something just bordering on alien, filling her nose.

"Hello," she mumbled. He laughed, and she felt it, rather than heard. It rumbled through his chest.

"Been a bit of a while, hasn't it?" he replied, tilting her head up to face him. She smiled hugely, even though a film of tears was threatening to overflow.

"Two years," she sniffled, and that must have obviously been very important, because he was kissing her very solidly.

It wasn't very expert, but he was enthusiastic, pushing her back against the bookshelf, running his fingers through her hair, and pulling her to him so she connected with every part, both of them trying very hard to sink into the other. Books were poking against her head, and when she drew back, he was beaming and there was just the slightest hint of shine in his eyes.

"Missed you," she said against the skin of his jaw, tasting the pulse that beat two-four beneath the tip of her tongue.

When he leaned down again, it quickly turned from happiness to desperation, as if she was going to vanish, and he had his tongue in her mouth, and one hand up her shirt, scraping his nails against the small of her back, and biting at her lower lip with his teeth.

(This, Rose thought, is new)

She returned the favour, tugging roughly at his hair, and that was apparently approved, because he moaned into her mouth, and she'd really never envisioned their reunion including snogging in a bookstore, but she _certainly_ wasn't complaining.

They were interrupted by both a hoarse shout of irritation, and a heavy thunk as Tolstoy's Complete Works hit the Doctor on the head.

He yelped in pain, and broke away abruptly, staring accusingly over her shoulder. The owner, old and crotchety, was gesturing at them, and using language that would make Jackie blush.

"Oi!" returned the Doctor, holding her hand automatically and stepping forwards. "She's not my whore! She's my companion!"

That set off a fresh burst of insults, and with surprising strength, they were hauled through the door.

"My book," said Rose sadly, gazing at the closed entrance from the pavement. The Doctor patted her arm sympathetically.

"I have the Deathly Hallows in the TARDIS. We can read it when we finish with the lizard." She looked at him, frowning.

"Sorry?"

"Well. The lizard and four things. Come on! Run!" And with that they were sprinting down the street, and Rose didn't let go of him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Later, he only got to the middle of Chapter One before she chucked it on the floor and snogged him so hard he forgot to talk.

Rose might have been a fan of reading but some things were just _slightly_ more important.


End file.
